


Can you see it now?

by svevijah



Series: Future Starts Slow. [6]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, Post-Endgame, Pre-Spider-Man: Far From Home, cooper has a boyfriend, it's actually an ambush, kate meets the bartons, lila is black widow, timelines are messed up but guess what i don't care
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-12
Updated: 2019-05-12
Packaged: 2020-03-02 07:58:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18806980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/svevijah/pseuds/svevijah
Summary: “Can you see it now? The task I want to give you?” Fury asked solemnly, and Lila found herself unable to speak for a moment, her breath became unsteady and her eyes foggy. She nodded, trying with all her strength not burst in tears right before everybody.





	Can you see it now?

**Author's Note:**

> hello everybody! title is inspired by Clint's line in the beginning of endgame, when he moves a strand of hair before Lila's eye and asks her if she can see the target, so yeah, it's for the feels. COOPER HAS A BOYFRIEND!! like, nobody knows what's up with ace anymore so that woul be a nice way to get him back, you know. anyway, Lila brings a friend home and ends up regretting her life decisions - this is the whole plot. enjoy!

“You know,” Kate began as she threw her backpack next to her bed “your dad kinda inspired me to take archery lessons.”

“Did he?” Lila asked, gaze focused on her laptop as she scanned through the files in the SD card Natasha left her. “How so?”

Flipping a strand of hair behind her shoulder, Kate sat on the other spinny chair and moved towards Lila. As Kate’s head curiously tilted towards the screen to see what on it, Lila moved the laptop away, gesturing for her to begin her story.

“You know, when the aliens arrived in New York back in 2012, I was in Central Park with my nanny. We were eating ice cream on a bench and then this… thing came our way. I don’t remember much about it, but I remember Hawkeye taking it down with one single arrow and I thought it was super cool.”

Hearing Kate’s story, Lila couldn’t help but smile at herself, even though knowing quite well that what happened after that battle was more than unpleasant. Sometimes she could still hear her dad scream in the dead of the night, wandering around the house restlessly, in fear of what he had seen while under the Tesseract’s control.

“I bet he’s just the coolest dad ever.” Kate continued, bringing Lila back from her thoughts.

“He’s just a very regular dad to be honest.” Lila remarked dryly. “I mean, he knows more than the other dads so her worries more as well…” she trailed off, pursing her lips tight. “It’s kind of complicated.”

“Well, at least your dad cares about you… mine just drops me around, school after school.”

In that very moment, Lila’s brows lined in a frown, the realisation that she actually didn’t know that much about Kate – even though Ned would depict her as Kardashian kind of famous. Lila never really cared about them about them to think of them as relevant, and maybe that was why the Bishops were just another famous last name she couldn’t care less about.

Nonetheless, the idea that Kate had spent most of her childhood alone from her always busy parents, almost made her think that it wasn’t that different from her relationship with her dad, his missions and his job, his team and his never ending need to hold his bow and jump into action.

“So, will you be Hawkeye when he retires?” Kate asks in a cheerful tone, and Lila’s stomach twists for a moment. Her dad retired many times during these years but he never did for good. He just couldn’t. However, aunt Nat’s death definitely brought him at a point of non-return about his superhero career. 

“My dad’s gonna be Hawkeye forever, probably.” She answered quietly. “You know last time I actually practiced with a bow was before the decimation happened… he called me Hawkeye just seconds before I vanished.” She recalled with a sad smile. “And although it felt nice being called like that at the time I hum… I just think my priorities have changed. Things have changed in my family and I – I don’t want to disappoint dad, or aunt Nat, for what it matters.”

“Do you think she’d be okay with you being Hawkeye?”

Lila let out a heavy sigh. “Aunt Nat would be fine with whatever thing I guess. She believed in me so much that with the way she hyped me up I could have even become an astronaut or something like that.”

“Must be nice to have someone believing in you this much.”

“It was.”

As silence fell between the two girls, Lila’s phone rang, displaying a text from her mom: her presence would have been required in the weekend, since Cooper would have brought his new boyfriend home for a family meeting. Reading the latest news, Lila couldn’t help but snort.

“Hey Kate?” she asked, eyes glued on the screen as she tapped on it a response. Kate hummed as an answer. “Would you like to meet the one and only Hawkeye? There’s gonna be drama, you might won’t miss _professional father hen Clint Barton_.”

Kate raised a brow in confusion, and before she could even say yes, Lila had already told her mom she would have brought a friend along.

____________________

“So, you actually lived in a farmhouse then.” Kate declared quietly as they walked towards the porch. Lila shrugged, a smirk ghosting on her lips.

As they entered in the house, Lila saw the table set for way too many people than she was aware of, and as realisation hit her like a truck, she quickly regretted the decision to invite Kate over. “Ma I’m home.” She yelled in that same tone her dad used to when calling for Laura whenever he’d come from a mission. “Please tell me the whole bunch is not here.” She whispered finally, before getting hit by Morgan running full force towards her.

“Lila!”

“Morgoona!” Lila screamed back spinning Morgan around and embracing the little girl in a tight hug. As her head tilted a little to face Kate, Lila mouthed “I’m sorry I didn’t know they’d all be here.” To which Kate replied with an unbothered smile.

Right after Morgan pulled back and ran towards the kitchen, Cassandra walked towards her, Nathaniel draped on her shoulders chanting for the girl to call her pet ant so that they could play together. Lila waved quickly in their direction before they disappeared in the backyard.

In the living room, Peter was chatting with Sam, Bucky, Wanda and Bruce about his upcoming school trip. In the kitchen Clint and Laura were switching places left and right while cooking launch, Thor and the Guardians sitting at the table and telling Cooper and his boyfriend stories about their travels.

“Hello people!” Lila chimed in leaning next the door frame, Kate trailing after her awkwardly.

Cooper turned to face her with the biggest smile on his face, thing that almost made Lila wonder if her brother – known for having inherited dad’s angry resting face 24/7 – was possessed or something. Behind him, a guy waved at her.

“Lils, this is Ace.” Cooper began excitedly. “His dad used to be a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent too.”

“Good for him.” Lila remarked sarcastically, while her mind began scanning every agent they’d ever knew that could have possibly be the guy’s dad. No match. Shaking her thoughts away, she turned towards Kate and pointed at her dramatically. “This is Kate, she’s a big fan of dad.”

Kate blushed, but smiled at everybody nonetheless, cursing Lila through her teeth. Lila grinned back at her like nothing happened.

“Who’s the fan?” Clint yelled from across the room, a frying pan in his hand and a flame going crazy right behind him. Lila looked Kate right in the eye and whispered “You still think he’s cool? Wait for when he’ll have a new reason to tear apart the kitchen.”

“I’m Katherine Bishop, sir.” Kate introduced herself politely.

“Lils told us you’re her roommate?” Laura chimed in giving her a wide smile, and Kate nodded.

“She told me she knows how to shoot, dad.” Lila declared with a knowingly tone, causing Kate to glare at her in embarrassment. “You should have a contest or something.”

“Ten on ten and the one who loses is on dish washing duty?” Clint suggested stretching his arm so that could shake his hand with Kate’s and make a deal. Kate seemed to think about it thoroughly, then let out a small puff of air and shook back Hawkeye’s hand.

____________________

“Am I a joke to you?” Harley asked taking off his sunglasses and putting in the pocket of his lounge jacket. Although Lila was dying to ask him why on earth did he look like Tony’s closet threw up on him, she decided it wasn’t her business to decided on his outfit choices.

“Why so?” she asked instead, a fake curious tone dripping through her words.

“Who’s the girl with the bow?” he yelled, and for a moment Lila was glad they were that conversation in the barn, away from the others.

“Oh… you mean Kate?” she asked innocently, although a smirk was visible on her lips. “She’s a fan of dad, I brought her here for the _behind the scene Clint Barton_ and instead I found the whole freakin’ family reunited like it’s a wedding or something and people forgot to tell me.”

Harley rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, shooting an annoyed expression at Lila, who felt threatened enough to bring her defensive strategy on the table. “You wanted an archer! I’m giving you one! You could at least thank me!”

Hearing her statement, Harley’s arms dropped at his sides with a loud thud. “Lila, I asked _you_ to be part of my team. If I wanted some random brat I would have taken a look on Craigslist! I honestly can’t believe you’re turning your back at me like this as well! The betrayal!”

“What are you even talking about?”

Harley took in a sharp breath, then threw a hand across his face. “Peter wants out. He’s got this trip in Europe and he couldn’t care less about Avengers related stuff. Cassie is in, but there’s one tiny issue aka she lives in freakin’ San Francisco! Shuri’s got some stuff to deal with in Oakland.”

“The Outreach Centre?”

“I guess so. It’s her big gig as princess after the Science and Information Exchange so she thinks it’s better to be focused on that. She’d be willing to step in for consulting and engineering related stuff tho.”

“What’s the point if there’s no team?”

As silence fell between them, Lila let out a loud sigh. “Trust me, Kate’s a good shot for what’s left of your team.”

“You were supposed to be the good shot, Lils.”

“Things change.” She remarked without missing a beat. “And sometimes change is good.”

“But, you and Cassie used to dream of being Hawkeye and Stature since you were kids, since before the sna–“

“Things change, Harley.” Lila repeated interrupting him, her arms crossed as tight as she could and her expression dead serious. Harley shook his head lightly, putting back on his sunglasses. Before Lila could say anything, he was already out of the barn, heading back to the party.

____________________

“You’re setting S.H.I.E.L.D. up again? After that whole fiasco?” Lila asked in a confused tone as Fury took a large slice of cake from the buffet table, Goose lazily walking next to him.

“Third time is a charm, kid!” Fury remarked with a laugh, and Lila raised a brow at him wondering whether he was actually serious about the whole thing or was just pulling a prank on her. As Fury’s face became serious and he cleared his throat, Lila gave him an even more sceptical look.

“Imagine this, kid. A small group of trusted people, just the way it began.” He whispered, his only eye side-eyeing the room behind them to check if someone else was listening. “Ex and new remarkable people, and more to come in the future I’m sure. Pepper is willing to fund us. Some people would be field agents, some consultants – like your dad for instance; your mom could come back to be the impeccable handler she used to be now that Nate’s going to school. Door’s always open in case Cooper changes his mind…”

“What about me?” Lila asked in a fake offended tone. “Like, I’m your namesake, your godchild, your favourite granddaughter, and you don’t have a plan for m–“

“I thought about that too.” Fury interrupted her, his voice breaking slightly although he tried not to show it. “Your dad told me you’re having troubles with the bow. It’s okay. You won’t necessarily need it for the task I’m going to handle you.”

“What do you have in mind?” she asked and Fury let out a small chuckle, then pulled out a little watch. He pushed on a button and a small holographic design for a tac suit appeared on Lila’s salad, almost causing her to drop the bowl on the floor.

“Can you see it now? The task I want to give you?” Fury asked solemnly, and Lila found herself unable to speak for a moment, her breath became unsteady and her eyes foggy. She nodded, trying with all her strength not burst in tears right before everybody.

“The world needs another selfless soul like Natasha’s.” He began sternly. “And who could be a better choice than you. Are you going to step up or leave the world without its Widow?”

Lila stayed silent for what seemed hours before managing to say something. Taking a deep breath, she looked Fury in the eyes, her expression as serious as ever. “Dad used to have metal batons and sucked, so I want them made of Vibranium.”

“That’s something I can arrange.” He declared with a smile. “Anything else?”

Lila smirked right back, her mind spinning and brainstorming any possible weapon and gadget she had seen her dad and aunt Nat use over the years. “I’ll send you a text with everything I want and oh, grandpa Nick?”

“Yes dear?”

“Have a _Hoyt Gamemaster II_ ordered for my friend Kate, she’ll totally need one.”


End file.
